Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1887-02-10
THE TENTH MAN TO CROSS AFRICA

DIR, LEM who arrived at Zanzibar last
week from the interior of Africa, has
completed the tenth trip made by white
men across central Africa from sea to sea.
Less than a year ago he was stesming up
the Congo on one of the vessels of the
Congo state. His little party had been
sent TO Africa to rescue Emin Bey and
DR.. Junker. DR.. LEM found after he
reached Stanley falls that his force was
too feeble to make its way through IN
friendly tribes over three hundred miles
TO the Welle Makna, where DR. Junker
was supposed to be. After he had con
WINGED him that ne could not reach Dr.
Juuker or Emin Bey from Stanley falls,
he assembled the Congo over 800 miles
further to Kasongo, the head quarters of
the great Arab trader. Tippo Tip hoping
from this point to be able to push north
east TO Albert NYanza, where he thought
he might meet the beleaguered explorers.
We heard few weeks ago that he had
beep defeated l. his purpose, and that he
was hushing ea.yward 20 Zanzibar.
DR.. LEM wrote a letter from Kasongo
which contained some interesting news
about central Africa. Kasongo is only a
short distance southeast Of Nysugwe,
/
made famous as "a great trading point.
DR.. LEM says that the Importance Of
Nyapgwe has greatly dwindled and it is
now completely overshadOwed by Kason
60 tho town of the powerful Tippo Tip.
There is at last n little city in Central
Africa kesongo has become the great
center for the ivory and slave trade. DR..
LEM says its houses are arranged in
streets. About ten thousand people in
I habit the place. Here are fitted out all
/ the caravans chat start for Lake flanagan
vika with slaves and ivory. Here is the
distributing point for all the goods from
| Zanzibar, which the Arabs scatter over
the country among chiefs who sell them
/ ivory or slaves, or who help them on their
( slave raids. Caravans are continually
/ coming and going. Provisions are abun-
+ dant and cheap. Many of the houses are
| large and very well built with sun-dried
/ bricks. The bills around the town are
covered with rice-felds. The Arabs have
I also introduced cattle since Stanley was
/ there, ten years ago, and now large herds
/ flourish on the plains some distance
I from the town.
/ Tn; significant fact revealed by the re-
/ cent travels Of DR.. LEM and Lieutenant
/ Gleerup is that the Arabs who ten years
/ ago were few in number west of Tan
ganyika, are now sWarming over the en-.
tire country, which Is wholly in their
I power, and which they and their Deepen
dents are thickly populating. All ap
pearances point to the foundation Of q
new Arab state in Central Africa on ter
ritory that Is claimed by the Congo
statute.
II is noteworthy also that DR.. LEM
who has been quite skeptical as TO the
value Of any part of central Africa, says
that nowhere in savage Africa has he
seen 70 much industry and such genera
cultivation of the land as in the region
around Nyangwe and Kasongo, and j,
expressed the opinion that this large dis
trict is adapted TO colonization, an idei
that has hitherto been very general!
discredited.
EDWARD ATKINSON. SO we'll known az tn,
student Of industrial questions, has pre-
pared a Sc les of tables which serve t.
show the wonderful development of on
resources and may also afford a sugges
tiOu as TO the reason of depression o
prices in the last two or three years. TIL,
table of products shows that we raised
3,0l4OG3,9e4 bushels Of grain in 1885, o
twice a. much as we raised fifteen year
ago on the average. The hay cropreach
"a 4S,+7O.4eO tons double that OF ter
years ago. The cotton crop under fret
labor amounted to G.5JO,215 bales, owe
three times as much MS was ever raised b.
slave labor, while the average crops o.
the south show that the free negro il
raising twice as much as he did while il
slavery. The growth of railroads ma
kept pace with the agricultural develop
ment, In 1865 there were ST eos miles o
railroad, now there are 12s,OG7 miles
The table shows that between 1861 an,
1865 these roads m,ved 1897 ,05s,662 ton
an average distance of III miles at
cost of S2.O52 9i7Os5. The statistics re
lating 90 labor show a steady yearly in
crease of wages for the last twenty year
and corresponding increase in th'
purchasing power of the dollar.